Reimagining "Death Becomes Her" for Broadway

CBS News

30-03-2025

The 1992 cult classic "Death Becomes Her," about the intense rivalry of two women and their quest for eternal youth, is notable both for its Oscar-winning visual effects, and its cast of A-listers, including Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Isabella Rossellini.
"You could get really hung up on the fact that some of the greatest actresses of all time played our roles," said Megan Hilty, who inhabits the Meryl Streep role of Madeline Ashton, an actress of "a certain age," in the new Broadway musical adapted from "Death Becomes Her." "But the thing is, we're not recreating their performances. We're recreating this story."
Michelle Williams, of Destiny's Child, takes on the role of a mysterious sorceress (played by Rossellini in the movie). Rossellini actually came to see the play, which Williams said left here feeling "kind of like one of those wobbly things at the car dealer. My body just kind of left itself!"
And two-time Tony Award-nominee Jennifer Simard ("Company," "Disaster!"), in Hawn's role of Helen Sharp, believes the movie is a natural as a Broadway musical. "The dark humor in the show lends itself to a musical, because it's very dramatic," she said. "And so, it's perfect for stage."
"It's almost operatic," said director Christopher Gattelli. "It's so heightened that it's perfect fodder for a musical."
To watch a trailer for "Death Becomes Her," click on the video link below:
Gattelli knew that a successful transfer to the stage meant translating memorable moments from the movie, like the spectacular tumble Streep took down an ornate staircase: "We spent weeks in the room with a staircase throwing mannequins down the stairs, throwing balls with hair down the stairs – like, if you could throw it down a flight of stairs, we literally did it!"
The solution? A fall guy (in this case Olympic gymnast Warren Yang) does the stunt for Hilty. "It really excited me because he does this feat every night, no wires," Gattelli said. "It's literally like a human going down the staircase kind of freefall."
Judging from its response, the audience relishes being in on the joke. Hilty said, "It feels like an ocean of waves of laughter. Most of those, like, huge waves are in response to how things have been translated from the movie to the stage."
"I think it's a laughter of respect that we got it right," said Simard. "They are probably wondering, 'How are they gonna do that?' And we did!"
"Death Becomes Her" is just the latest in a long line of Hollywood movies turned into Broadway musicals. But the traffic used to move in the
opposite
direction: plays like "The Philadelphia Story," and stage musicals like "The Sound of Music," were turned into hit movies. Back then, movies were rarely turned into Broadway shows.
"I think Broadway felt that the Hollywood source material was second-rate, that it was kind of low-rent, and not really worthy of the 'theater' on Broadway," said Laurence Maslon, a professor at New York University's graduate school for acting. "That started to change in the '50s when you had better movies, frankly in the '40s. And one of the first Broadway musicals based on a screenplay is 'Silk Stockings,' which is based on Billy Wilder's 'Ninotchka.' That's not too shabby a movie!"
Still, if a movie made it to Broadway, most likely its title did not. For example, the film "All About Eve" became the musical "Applause."
Then along came Disney, with movie titles that were major draws for theatergoers, and a trickle of Hollywood-to-Broadway adaptations became a roar. "'The Lion King,' when it opened, was such a theatrical reinvention of something that it captures the imagination to this day," said Maslon.
"The Lion King" adaptation was a big, risky move that paid off. "The proof is in the pudding," said Maslon, "because the film of 'Lion King,' since it's been released, has made slightly under $1 billion worldwide. The stage version, which is making money even as you and I are talking, has made more than $12 billion."
"The Lion King" illustrated how finding the perfect balance between the familiar and new is essential. When the musical version of "The Addams Family" opened in Chicago, they purposely didn't want to use the TV show's signature theme song. "They were like, 'No, we're our own thing,'" said Maslon. "And people started, like, walking away at intermission with these long faces!"
For the record, yes, the producers ended up adding the theme.
In the case of "Death Becomes Her," a story about aging that hasn't aged well, some re-writes were in order. In the movie, Streep's and Hawn's characters rip each other new ones in pursuit of a slouch played by Bruce Willis.
Maslon said, "I think a stage version of 'Death Becomes Her' allows the creative team to take somewhat dated, misogynistic material and cut-and-paste it or tailor it a little bit so that it's palatable [today]."
Simard and Hilty believe that focusing on their characters' friendship was key. "What is that phrase? 'The opposite of love is not hate? It's indifference,'" said Simard. "And we are not indifferent to one another. And ultimately, we do discover how much we love each other."
The formula seems to be working. Williams can sense it from the stage during the opening number: "I love feeling the energy of the audience, and I'm able to go back and tell people, 'It's a good one, we've got a good one!'"
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Story produced by Kay Lim. Editor: Lauren Barnello.